The Bloody Jug Band

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You say you’re in the mood to hear something slightly different. The usual assortment of acoustic artists reinterpreting Buffett for the millionth time won’t cut it. Come here, my pretties and try this on for size…

Orlando’s Bloody Jug Band will cast their dark shadow across Brevard when they bring their updated and skewed version of a modern jug band to Cocoa on June 24. The band leans heavily on the influence of jug bands that peaked in popularity in the late 1920s and early ’30s.
Jug bands were originally traveling vaudeville acts that generally consisted of musicians playing homemade or found instruments such as the washtub string bass, spoons, washboard, and not to overstate the obvious, the jug. TBJB are musical purists, and some might say lyrically as well.

Lead singer Cragmire Peace has always been fascinated with campy horror films and the sort of eerie campfire tales that make people seek refuge at the bottom of their sleeping bags. Like a lot of traditional Americana, folk and country music, jug bands often sang about murder, mayhem and darkness.

In 2009, when Peace was assembling the octet of like-minded musicians, those he spoke with either loved the idea or thought he was nuts. One of the first members recruited was jug player Big Daddy Jerm, who soon brought with him vocalist Stormy Jean, who suggested… you get the idea. “A lot of the players are pushed out of their comfort zone,” says Peace of the unique challenges presented by being a true-to-form traditional jug band.

For your listening pleasure, The Bloody Jug band performs original compositions as well reinterpretations music by Judas Priest, the Misfits, Johnny Cash, and as of late have added Bob Dylan’s “Tombstone Blues.”

The Bloody Jug Band performs at the Hippodrome (9 Stone St., Cocoa) on Friday, June 24 with DC Wilson (from the Nine Volts) and Goodrich & The Die Tryins..